George Burgess’s tackle on Steve Matai will be subject to the NRL match review committee.Source:News Corp Australia

MANLY officials believe the ugly chicken-wing injury suffered by centre Steve Matai last Friday may have been as a result of an attempt at payback from South Sydney.

Sea Eagles coach Geoff Toovey said after Souths’ dominant SCG win that he was in no doubt Matai was the victim of foul play after the Manly centre was forced from the field after he had his arm twisted in a tackle involving Issac Luke and Rabbitohs forward George Burgess.

While match officials failed to place the tackle on report, the incident is now subject to the NRL match review committee, which will hand out its charge sheet on Monday.

George Burgess’s tackle on Steve Matai will be subject to the NRL match review committee.Source:News Corp Australia

The potential suspension of Luke — who has a poor judiciary record — and/or Burgess, would prove a bitter blow for Souths ahead of Thursday night’s clash with Brisbane.

The incident also overshadowed Matai’s 30th birthday celebrations among teammates on Saturday, with the centre fearing he could miss at least the next fortnight of football.

But it appears there may have been bad blood between both sides ahead of Friday night’s blockbuster, stemming from their brutal round two clash, which Manly won 14-12.

“If you recall, Stevie (Matai) put a few big shots on that night. He got him (Luke) good,’’ a senior Manly official said.

“There were more than a few people talking about that after the game (on Friday night). That it was payback from them. We won’t be afraid of taking them on again if we have to this year, put it that way.’’

After airing concerns about how the Rabbitohs “wrestled the crap” out of Manly in the first half, Toovey was asked if wrestling also played a role in Matai’s injury.

“I’ll have to have a look at it. I’ll have to see what happens,” he said.

“I don’t know what the role of the touch judge is anymore. They don’t worry about the 10 (metres in defence), they don’t worry about the offside on kicks ... I don’t know.”